The Apprentice
by Striks
Summary: How does an assassin become an assassin, what is his backstory?
1. The Beginning

**TheBeginning  
**

He was the wind, he was a shadow, he could pass by like a ghost, unnoticed.

"Hey Jensen are you with me, hello?", the sound of his best friend's voice snapped him out of the trance he had placed himself under.

"Yes Peter I'm still here now stop pestering me I'm trying to get my self ready" what Jensen was getting himself ready to do was jump a gap the size of his body spread out, which was just over one and a half metres tall, now this wouldn't normally be a big problem for him but it was because he was on the rooftop of a four storey high building and if he tripped he would certainly fall to his death,

"You've been trying to get yourself ready for ten minutes now, when are you going to jump it or am I going to have to do it first?" Peter would never actually do the jump, he always exaggerated his abilities, Jensen guessed it was to make himself seem better than him.

"Okay check to see that there aren't any guards at the bottom and tell me when the coast is clear" Peter moved to the edge and peered down the building, his thumb went up, which was the signal for him to run, Jensen sprinted to the edge of the building and with one great jump he leaped over onto the other building and rolled just so he didn't hurt himself.

"Jensen that was fantastic!", exclaimed Peter, "Now let's get down before the guards show up.

Jensen and Peter both scaled down the buildings like they had done it all their lives, in a way they had, they had been doing these kind of daring stunts ever since they were seven years old, they were both sixteen now and had moved on to higher and bigger jumps and stunts.

The streets below were filled with locals, beggars annoying passers by for coin, merchants shouting about their cheap prices at the top of their voices. People moved about with purpose, all dressed in quite drab clothing to theirs, Jensen and Peter both wore white three quarter length shorts that strapped around their shins which made for fast moving, and they both had a strip of cloth tied to the side of the shorts which flowed when they moved, Jensen walked around shirtless to show off his masculine physique while Peter had a what was once white shirt on, which now had dirt stains all over it making him seem like a dirty street urchin.

The sun was blazing hot today and everyone was feeling it, women fanned their faces with their hands and men walked around shirtless dabbing at their faces with handkerchiefs. A woman walked by who had the most magnificent bosom the two boys had ever seen, it heaved as she walked one, swayed was more the word.

"Now that's a woman I wouldn't want as a wife" Jensen looked at his friend incredulously.

"What are you talking about man? If I had a woman like that I wouldn't need to impress anyone else."

"Look at her, the minute you don't please her anymore," his friend gave him a sly smile then, "she will go and bed the next man that offers her his bread."

They both laughed raucously then, which earned them a few looks from passers by. After a few moments longer enjoying their laughter they stopped and a new sound entered the air. The sound of clanging armour, men shouting and footsteps, running towards their direction.

They both looked at each other and smiled, finally some action, they both ran for the nearest building and scaled it swiftly. Once at the top they looked around until they spotted someone else on the rooftops, gaining ground at an incredible speed. The figure was wearing a hooded robe which spread at the bottom to give him room to run, and he had a red strip of cloth just like them hanging at his side. The man then jumped a gap that was easily three times the size of the one Jensen done and he done it so fluidly, he seemed to move like water.

"Now who do you suppose that is?" asked Peter and just a few seconds later his question was answered by someone at ground level shouting

"STOP ASSASSIN!"

They couldn't believe their luck, a real assassin, and he was showing off too.

"Hey want to follow him?" asked Jensen excitedly.

"Are you joking, he'll kill us if he sees us!"

"Well let's not let him see us then", and without further time for talk Jensen jumped across the rooftop he was standing on, landing on another one about two metres away, and started to follow the man. He could hear Peter sighing behind him but he followed straight after.

"If we die, I'm going to kill you" said Peter who was now behind him.

Jensen flashed his friend a smile and sped off after the assassin.

It wasn't easy keeping up with the man, he moved like nothing they had ever seen, his movement were so fluid, one moment he was just running in a straight line, the next he had jumped another rooftop and slid under or vaulted over obstacles.

"He's fast" panted Jensen. Before Peter could reply, a stone had hit him square in the face which made him lose his balance and fall over.

Jensen stopped to check on his injured and lost site of the assassin

"He threw a stone at me" said Peter incredulously as if he couldn't believe it. His nose had started bleeding and it seemed out of place.

"I think he broke your nose" said Jensen, he put his Finger on Peter's nose and moved it a little, the bone crunched and Peter retreated clutching his nose. "Yeah it's broken. Come here I can fix the bump at least"

Peter walked to him and Jensen put his thumbs to the sides of his nose, and with a quick motion, and another crunch, he pushed the bone back into place.

"You're lucky he didn't kill you"

"Yeah then I'd have to kill you for making me go on this stupid chase" replied Peter sulkily. Jensen laughed and slapped his friend on the back.

"Come on, we have to go back anyway, the gang will be expecting us, and tonight we have a big job to do"

They both scaled down the building, Jensen almost falling off after losing a foothold, and walked back to their hideout, all the while hearing shouts and clanging of armour, it seemed the guards hadn't caught the assassin.


	2. The Meeting

**The Meeting  
**

The hideout was a run down house in the middle of an abandoned street, litter was spread everywhere, the houses surrounding the hideout had all long since been abandoned and had doors missing or smashed, the roofs were crumbling and plants were growing out of control, the hideout was the most well kept place in the whole street, the plants that had once blocked the doorway had been cut so they only just reached halfway up Jensen and Peter's feet. A light was coming from inside the house, a dim gold glow which felt warm. They both entered and were greeted with a full armed slap around the face. They both grabbed at their red cheeks and rubbed them.

"Where do you two think you have been?!" hissed the girl of Jensen's dreams. Leah was beautiful as far as he was concerned, she had high cheek bones, dark brown eyes, which now had a dangerous edge to them, hair that was always kept tidy and reached halfway down her back, she usually tugged at it when she was angry or anxious and today she was almost pulling it off, she wore her usual light brown breeches that went to her feet and a loose fitting white shirt, and of course she too had a red strip of cloth attached to her side.

"We lost track of time, we're sorry, but you'll never guess what we saw, it was an as-" he was cut off by a raise of her hand, when you didn't want your head ripped off you done what Leah told you to do.

"I don't care what you saw, we've been waiting here for almost an hour for you two louts and you don't even bother to put on a shirt for the meeting."

Jensen was confused for a moment then realised that he was still topless and hastily put on the cream shirt that he was holding.

"Is everyone here?" he asked whilst putting on his shirt. Leah's tone seemed to relax a little, a little.

"Everyone but Danel and Minka, it seems those two had better things to do." she replied icily. Danel and Minka were both lovers and everyone knew, no matter how much they pretended they weren't. Jensen knew exactly what they were up to.

"Now come on because everyone's waiting" she continued and ushered them into the aptly named, meeting room. This room had some furnishing whereas the entrance didn't, it had a painting of a ship setting off on her maiden voyage above the now fully lit and crackling fireplace, which had itself endured many hardships by the look of the stone coming off it. The windows around it had curtains made of beige cloth attached to them and they were nailed to the wall so no draft came in.

Hard faced and sober Marcus was staring intently at the fire while sitting on the only chair in the house. He was the oldest at the age of twenty four. His nose was broken due to many fights as a teenager. The childish looking Sibella was sitting on the floor scratching at something Jensen couldn't see, the fact that she looked too young to harm anyone made her all the more dangerous since no one knew what she was capable of, he though that she was pretty with the dark pools of brown in her eyes.

Saemus was sitting next to her with his legs crossed and eyes closed.

Once Marcus noticed that Jensen and Peter had come into the room he got up off the chair and started the meeting.

"As many of you know", he started in his deep rumbling voice, "Our brother Hayden was found dead with his head cut off two weeks ago" the room suddenly seemed very cold to Jensen because of what Marcus said next.

"I have found out who killed him, his name is Fayiz Yusef and it seems he has been slowly killing off people that he deems heretics, so beggars, street urchins, lepers and apparently us." he continued with an edge to his voice now. "Tonight we are going to pay him a little visit at his house, my informant has told me where he lives, and we shall give him a little… message, that tells him if he messes with us again he will regret it."

So this was it, Jensen's first ever real mission and a good one too, Peter was barely holding in his excitement since this was his first time too.

"So when do we move?" asked Saemus, who had now walked over to the table that had a pitcher of water on it. Pouring himself a bit into the pot nearby he came and sat back down.

"As soon as dark falls" replied Marcus.

"Where are his apartments?" asked Jensen.

"On the southern edge of the city"

A knock suddenly turned everyone silent. Leah swiftly got up off the floor and almost crept towards the door, when she came back Danel and Minka were with her. Danel was a stocky man, he had a scar down his left cheek, which he had got from a knife fight two years ago, he had most of his hair shaved off except for a topknot on his head, which made him look ridiculous, he moved with the grace of a cheetah and could run as fast as one too. Minka was a slender woman with high cheeks bones and almost golden skin, she came up to Danel's chest but despite her small stature she could kill a man without a seconds thought.

"So you two have finally decided to join us" said Marcus, his eyes trying to pierce Danel.

"Yes, sorry but we got, held up." replied Danel. Marcus quickly waved his excuse away and explained to them the situation, by the end Minka was fuming.

"I will kill him myself, where did you say he was" her voice was practically acid at this point.

"Calm yourself Minka, we shall be heading out soon, now if you all go through the door on my left" he pointed to a brown door with a scratch marks on it, Jensen couldn't guess what done it, probably a cat, "You will find some equipment to help you tonight."

Jensen and Peter were the first through the door and inside it was a dark room lit by one lamp, which didn't provide much light. There was a table in the middle with eight knives and eight sheathes on it. They all picked one up each. Marcus came in last with his own knife, which looked like a serpent and on the end of the hilt there was a giant red glass ball.

"Okay now that everyone is ready we will leave" he led them out into the now dark street and climbed the nearest building, they followed suit.

Running on the rooftops was always a thrill for Jensen but tonight it gave him even more of an adrenaline rush. After twenty minutes of running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop Marcus raised his fist up, a signal for them to stop, and pointed at a huge building in front of them with two big black iron gates, this was it.


	3. The Mission

**The Mission  
**

Darkness had fully covered the city now, stars covered the sky like a blanket and the moon was at it's fullest, which gave the city a greyish tint.

Jensen and Peter had stayed still as Marcus was looking at something inside the huge black gates that blocked the way into Fayiz Yusef's room that Jensen couldn't see. Suddenly he unfroze from his crouching position and walked over to them making no noise on the roof. Shadow covered his face which made it harder to see the expression on his face, although Jensen guessed it was his usual serious thinking expression.

"Peter and Jensen I want you both to scout ahead and come back to me with accurate numberings of guards. The rest of us will wait until they both get back and then Leah and Saemus, you're coming with me around the back of the building while Sibella, Danel and Minka go in through the front," he then pointed at Danel, " remember to keep to the shadows Danel, I don't want you showing off just because she's here" he pointed a finger at Minka with that last remark. "Everyone understand that?" they all nodded in response.

"Good, now Jensen and Peter go and get me some information."

Without waiting they both dropped off the building onto a ledge about halfway down and then dropped off that into a bush nearby. Jensen and Peter's breathing was heavy, it wasn't that he was tired, it was the pressure he had on him not to make a mistake, it was just so, exciting. Peter obviously felt this two because he was smiling very broadly at nothing.

They both slowly got out of the brush and kept to the shadows as much as they could while they completed their reconnaissance for Marcus.

Marcus looked at what Peter and Jensen were doing closely, hoping that those two rookies wouldn't mess up, he still remembered the first time he had met them both. They were about twelve and were amazed by everything that they saw, however, they were both beggar children, they used every trick in the book to get money but what caught his eye wasn't their begging methods but their pick pocketing, Peter would distract the wealthy merchant or other passer-by who seemed to have some coin on them while Jensen would creep up from the behind and swipe their pouch of money and run away. He had been impressed and had followed them around hoping to find out if they had more talents. One day they had got too cocky for their own good by trying to pickpocket a guard, who had caught them, and just as he was about to draw his sword Marcus had to step in and had said that they were both his brothers, that they always tried these kinds of pranks and that they would be punished for doing something as trying to pickpocket a mighty guard. After he had saved them they wouldn't leave him alone so he took them under his wing and trained them for a life where they could survive, it had turned out that they were both very capable athletically and picked up things very clearly, four years had gone past now and they were on their first real mission, he just hoped that all those years of training didn't fail them now.

They both returned half an hour later with information. Guards were spaced evenly around the perimeter in groups of four which added to a total of sixteen and they patrolled their own side of the building in groups of two always. Marcus had to think on this, the guards seemed to be well organised, in the end it all came down to timing their entrance into the building. They would all enter when the guards were patrolling away from the entrances and had their backs to them, which gave them a twenty second window approximately. On his signal, which was his thumb going up, they would all run through to where they were supposed to be and meet outside Fayiz's room, which Jensen and Peter had found out was on the far left of the third floor.

Marcus raised his thumb and they all run in, all the while sticking close to the shadows.

Jensen ran with all the speed he could muster and as silently as he could, the guards had their backs to him and Peter but that wouldn't last long. They both raced inside the building where they were hit by a wall of light so bright compared to outside that they had to close their eyes while they adjusted. Just as they could see again they heard noises coming from the hall to their left and quickly ran up the wide flight of stairs in front of them, just as they went out of site of the entrance they heard laughter and deep voices coming from the place. Jensen let out a relieved breath and heard peter doing the same, they had only just entered the place and had almost been caught, he berated himself for being so clumsy, if Marcus was there right then he would smacked him on the back of his head. They both got up slowly and made their way to the left side of the building. The building itself was magnificent, paintings hung on all the polished marble walls along the corridors, of battles, ships and other things Jensen didn't understand, he saw once a chalice being held by a man who was raising it up to a dove that was flying away.

Tall stand lamps stood at every corridors corner, illuminating it half way and then another took over. Their tour of the building was cut short when they both heard voices coming from both ends of the hallways and there was no place to hide.

"So what do suppose is wrong with Arafat?" asked a deep rumbling voice. Jensen quickly looked for a place to hide and found one in the form of an open door, which he and Peter slipped into without delay, the guards walked by still talking about someone called Arafat, who apparently had an imbalance in his miasma, whatever that was.

Not wasting anymore time they both almost sprinted towards their meet up point, not sparing anymore thought for the attractions on the walls.

Marcus, Leah and Saemus were already outside Fayiz's room but Sibella, Danel and Minka were nowhere in sight. Then, as if someone had read his mind, they appeared out of the corner of a hallway to his right. Marcus waved them all over to him and spoke in a hushed tone.

"You lot stay out here and keep watch and if any guard shows up and sees you, do not hesitate to run, I'll only a be a minute." they all nodded and he slowly opened the door and crept in. They all took their positions in front of the door and kept watch when Jensen noticed that the door was still open slightly, Marcus wouldn't mind if he just took a peek, would he? No. Making as if to close the remainder of the door he opened slightly so he could see Marcus looking down on what Jensen guessed was Fayiz's sleeping body, he stared at Fayiz for a long while and then his hand slowly dropped to the hilt of his knife. He slowly unsheathed it and looked down at Fayiz again, his knife wielding hand hanging in, Jensen heart was in his throat, he wasn't really going to kill him was he? Before his question could be answered he burst into the room, which caused Fayiz to stir a little, and Marcus turned to glare at him, that made him take a step back, the rest of the group was now looking in, a guard could just sneak up on them without them ever knowing. He summoned his courage and whispered fiercely.

"Marcus what are you doing!"

"I told you to stay outside Jensen" he spat back, his fiery stare could melt rock.

"You can't kill him, he deserves punishment but not death, you taught me that, no one deserves death" Jensen's voice shook a little.

"This man deserves death for what he's done."

"If you kill him you'll have every man in Damascus looking for you, you'll never be safe again" Jensen paused then, "and neither will any of us"

Marcus stopped glaring at him then and seemed to be thinking something through, then he smiled, smiled! Marcus didn't smile often.

"You're right Jensen, sometimes I wish I hadn't taught you this stuff" his voice sounded resigned, he still had the knife in his hand however. He walked across the room to Fayiz's writing table, a small thing with simple carvings of animal heads, which had a piece of parchment, ink and a quill on top. Marcus picked up the quill and hurriedly wrote something on the piece of parchment. Walking back to Fayiz's bed he placed the note on top of the desk-drawer, next to his bed, and stabbed his knife on top of it, with a dull thud. Fayiz stirred then but did not wake.

"Now let's get out of here before he wakes up" he said. And everyone who was standing outside sprang to life again and started to walk back out. Jensen looked at him.

"What did you write on that note?" he inquired. Marcus still had that dangerous light in his eyes.

"A warning" ,was all he said. Marcus had found a way out of the building using the basement and a door that led to underground tunnels, which was empty thankfully.

"Why didn't we just come in through the basement?" asked Peter.

"Because if we had come in through the tunnels, we wouldn't know if anyone was in the basement, and if there was our total operation would have been over" replied Marcus, a slight annoyance escaping his voice.

They walked in silence from then on until they got back to the hideout.

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**Author's note:**

**People i need more reviews, if you don't review i'm gonna think that you think it sucks.**

**Also the main character will be on his way to becoming a novice soon, so if you're thinking "where the hell is all the assassin stuff" just be patient.**


	4. The Goodbye

**The Goodbye  
**

Walking through the tunnel had given everyone a terrible putrid smell and they had changed out of those clothes as quickly as they could have after getting back to the hideout. As Jensen was putting his loose fitting pair of breeches on, Marcus called everyone into the meeting room again. This time when Jensen walked in he was with someone. A man dressed in a white robe, which split into quarters at his legs, a hood covering his face, the little Jensen could see of him was the beginnings of a beard covering a square jaw, he was also wearing a massive belt with knives sheathed on the sides of the belt, a red sash was tucked underneath it, which went down to his legs as well.

Then Jensen realised what was so familiar about him, this man was the assassin that he and Peter had tried to follow just a few hours ago on the rooftops, the rest had entered the room and were staring at the assassin like he was some strange animal which might attack at any moment, Minka was gently stroking the hilt of her knife subconsciously, at least Jensen thought it was. The assassin spoke then.

"So Marcus this is what you're doing these days, playing father figure to children" he said amusingly. This man couldn't be more than twenty two and yet he called them children.

"What do you want Annas?" Marcus asked, clearly he was not pleased that this, Annas, was here. He did not seem to notice however and continued.

"I followed you tonight, I saw how you got in and how you didn't kill Fayiz Yusef", Jensen was stunned, this man had seen everything they did, and they hadn't even spotted him! He couldn't help but be impressed, and by Peter's face he was just as surprised as him.

"And I have to say Marcus I'm quite impressed with what you've managed to teach them"

"I'm so glad you approve" his mock appreciation didn't faze the assassin one bit.

Danel stepped forward.

"Marcus who is this man?" he asked wearily. Marcus didn't answer for a few moments.

"This man is an old acquaintance of mine" he answered, still looking at the assassin.

"An acquaintance, so this is what you call old friends" the assassin ran his finger over the dusty table, blowing the dust out of his fingers, his eyes rested on Jensen. He walked over to him and Marcus tensed, ready to pounce.

"So you're the boy who was chasing me today" he looked at Peter then, "and you're the one who's nose I broke, sorry about that" he didn't sound too sorry. "Now, Marcus you wanted to know why I was here, well I have come bearing an invitation, the brotherhood could use some new recruits and I offer these boys a chance do become an assassin"

"No" was all Marcus said, his eyes said the rest. The assassin smiled.

"Well if that is your decision, but if any of you boys wants to join me, I will be at the bell tower at the east of Damascus tomorrow, if anyone still wants to come they can meet me there" and without waiting for a reply he left. Once the door shut behind him, Marcus ordered everyone to sit down, but before he could speak, Jensen opened his mouth.

"Marcus you never told us you knew an assassin, how do you know him?", Marcus closed his mouth and opened it again, changing what he had been going to say,

"I was an assassin, until six years ago, when I failed in one of my missions because I refused to kill my target, I was thrown out of the brotherhood and was never allowed to return, and that's when I came here", Jensen couldn't believe it, Marcus, an assassin? Leah spoke up then.

"Marcus, who was that man?"

"That man is someone who I don't want you lot to ever see again, he is trouble" he offered no explanation for why he was trouble but instead stood up and went to his bedroom, which was just a bed and a lamp in a compact dark room. Before he closed the door he looked back and spoke a warning.

"If any one of you meets with that man and leaves I never want to see the sight of you again, understood?" everyone nodded in reply. Satisfied that his warning was made clear he turned and closed the door behind him.

Everyone made their beds out of the blankets that Leah had passed around and laid down to sleep. Jensen didn't know why that man was trouble, but one thing he did know, he wasn't going to go near that man for fear of Marcus' wrath.

--

The next day Jensen was shaken awake by Danel.

"Huh oh Danel, is something wrong?"

"Sort of, well you see I've been with Minka a while now" he replied and stopped as if to think of what words to say next, " and, well I've decided to ask her for her hand in marriage", Jensen didn't know what to make of this, but he couldn't help smiling broadly at the boyish face, with a stubble, looking at him.

"That's great news, so when are you going to do it?" he asked

"I don't know, I don't even know what I'm going to say to her, should I just come out with it or should I do something else before hand?" that question wasn't really directed at Jensen and the Danel started to rub his head in frustration.

"Don't worry about it, all you need to know is that she'll say yes, which she will". he smiled reassuringly to his friend.

"And besides, if your ugly mug can get a girl I shouldn't have any trouble at all", this earned him a punch on the arm but Danel smiled as well1.

"Thank you, Jensen" he said quietly and went to lay down next to Minka again.

After five minutes of Jensen trying to go to sleep and not managing to he got up, put on his clothes, and went outside.

The air was pleasantly warm this morning, with a hint of dung in the air but that was always the case in these parts. Walking aimlessly along the zigzagging paths Jensen spotted people already out and about, merchants setting up their stalls, and the preachers getting ready to shout at the top of their lungs about their various gods.

As he was walking, Jensen spotted Marcus, who was haggling over the price of some strange shaped urn. Seeing him he beckoned Jensen over.

"What are you doing up so early?" asked Jensen

"Our visitor last made me restless and I couldn't get much sleep so I decided to walk for a bit" he replied simply. "Anyway what are you doing up so early?"

"Danel's going to ask Minka to marry him, isn't that great?!" exclaimed Jensen.

"Really? Well that is wonderful news, has he figured out how he's going to ask her?" Jensen shook his head.

"I think he's just to go for it and hopefully she says yes, which she will."

By this time Marcus had stopped trying to lower the price of the urn and instead left it, they walked back to the hideout continuing their conversation about Danel. As they went through the front door the familiar sent of Leah's 'cooking' wafted over to them in all it's pungent smell.

"What do you suppose she's cooking?" He asked.

"Rat carcass" replied Marcus jokingly.

Leah poked her head through to the corridor.

"Oh so you're back, isn't Peter with you?" she asked, her face still managed to pout no matter what mood she was in.

"No, I thought he was still asleep" replied Jensen

"Well when we all woke up he was gone, didn't even bother to pack up his sheets, the lazy scoundrel."

Whatever Leah had said struck a chord with Marcus for he turned around and all but ran out of the house and headed east.Confused, Jensen followed after him and soon realised where they were headed; the bell tower where the assassin would be, he had to quicken his pace to keep up with Marcus, who was zigzagging between people at an incredible speed. As they spotted the tower Jensen could see a figure at the top of it and another on a rooftop next to it, he guessed that was Peter.

Marcus had climbed the building next to Peter's and was speeding towards him. Jensen followed as quickly as he could, scaling the building and doing the small jump between the two buildings. Marcus had already caught up with Peter and as Jensen cam within earshot he heard Peter excitedly answering something that Marcus had said.

"He said he would teach me Marcus, I would be a hero to the land and I would be able to do anything I wanted to, why shouldn't I go?"

"Peter that is the same speech he gives everyone, don't believe a word of it, it's not what you think" hissed Marcus, he was almost pleading for Peter not to go.

"Maybe it wasn't for you Marcus, but it's going to be different for me, he said he sees great potential in me and… I'm going with him."

He turned to look at where the assassin had been just a few minutes ago, instead he had climbed the building they were on and was walking towards them. Seeing him, Marcus sprinted at him and tried to land punches anywhere he could, All the while shouting at him.

"I will not let you take him, you will not corrupt this one"

The assassin easily evaded all his punches and tripped own to the ground. His almost touched Marcus'

"That is not your decision to make; old friend." His sickly smile made that last remark worse, and all Jensen could do was watch, what else could he do?

He looked at Peter then and struggled to speak, he ended up almost whispering only one word.

"Why?"

"It's a new life Jensen, come with me, we'll live like kings"

Before Jensen could reply someone else had joined them on the rooftop. He was wearing the same robes as the other assassin, only they were much cleaner, his face was shrouded by his hood and all Jensen could was a strong jaw line. He radiated authority even before he spoke.

"Annas!" he shouted, "You are coming with me, right now" the other assassin hearing this leaped off of Marcus and grabbed Peter by the throat.

"Stay away from me, or I will kill him" and just to make his threat a blade sprung up from his wrist and he placed it on Peter's throat, drawing a little bit of blood. Jensen didn't know what to do, he felt useless, he knew that if he went to attack the assassin, he would kill Peter but he couldn't do nothing, _Think!_

"Annas, you have already broken two of the three tenants, if you kill an innocent I am going to have to kill you" Annas seemed to be rethinking his position and looked like he was going to let Peter go, then.

"No, I will not go back!" and with that, he slit Peter's throat, blood sprayed across the rooftop, leaving it painted crimson. Before Jensen had time to register this the assassin had jumped down onto the street and was making his escape, the other assassin sprinted after him, not even looking at Peter's writhing body on the floor.

Suddenly everything that had happened in the past few seconds clicked in his mind and in seconds he had his hands clasped over Peter's throat, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Peter, no you, you can't die, not now!" he knew that what he was saying was pointless for he could already feel Peter getting colder as more blood oozed out of his wound.

Marcus had joined him in trying to keep Peter alive, ripping cloth from his trousers went to place it on Peter's throat. In the end it was no use, within a minute Peter had choked on his own blood and his eyes had glazed over. He was dead. Unable to restrain himself he let out a howl of fury and anguish that pierced the air like a knife through bread. He fell to the floor and started to weep for his dead friend, he felt Marcus put his arms around him, cradling him like a baby. Through his tears Jensen eyes were calculating, he would find the man that killed Peter, and he would extinguish his life.

--

**Author's note:**

**Please review, i need to know what you guys think of this story otherwise it's pointless me even writing it.**


	5. The Hunt Begins

**Chapter 5**

Leah lay awake in her covers, staring up at the ceiling. She thought back to yesterday and what had happened.

_Marcus and Jensen came back an hour after they had left, and she was ready to tell them off for treading mud on her floor but just as she was about to, the words died on her tongue. Marcus was holding Peter in his arms, his clothes were covered in blood, as were Jensen__'__s._

"_My gods what happened?!__"__ she exclaimed as she hurried to look at Peter._

"_He__'__s dead__"__ was all Marcus said, __"__We need to bury him__"__. _

_She looked to Jensen then, he was looking down at the floor and looked like he was dead for all the movement he was making. Sympathy welled up inside her and she embraced him like a mother to her son. He didn__'__t respond to it. _

_Marcus moved to the front room as laid Peter out on the floor. Jensen quickly moved to him and sat down by Peter._

"_Leah gather the others, we will give him a proper funeral__"__ ordered Marcus without even looking at her. _

_She swiftly walked out of the house and went looking for the others._

_That night they had dug a hole in the ground big enough for Peter__'__s body. Candles had been placed around the hole to give some light for them to lay him down. He had been wrapped up tightly in blankets and was now just a mummified form in the ground. He really was gone. For minutes everyone stood where they were, just staring at him, tears started trickling down her cheeks, and she wasn__'__t the only one crying, everyone had a tear in their eye, everyone but Jensen._

_They all said their goodbyes to Peter and went on their back into the house. Turning her head she saw that Jensen and Marcus were still looking at Peter. Jensen slowly bent down and picked some earth up off the floor. And slowly let it fall out of his hand onto Peter__'__s form. Without another word he turned and went back into the house._

From where she was sleeping she could see him clearly on the other side of the room. He seemed to be mumbling something in his sleep. She could just make out the words. "Sorry" and "Pay".

Three days had passed since Peter's death. Three days since Jensen had last felt any emotion. People had offered their condolences to him but their words meant nothing. Three days since he had tried to find out where Peter's murderer was.

And still nothing.

Today he was scouring the using from the rooftops hoping to see a glimpse of the assassin, he didn't think it would be too difficult to spot someone that conspicuous but it had been. For the past three days there was no sign of him and he was getting impatient and the fact that someone had been following him was doing any favours for his temper. Swiftly moving to a nearby wall he vaulted over it and hid before his pursuer could see. Moments later he heard footsteps growing closer, and just as they stopped on the opposite side of the wall, Jensen leaped out and punched the person square in the face. They went down hard and were clutching at their face.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?!" he demanded.

"Jensen you idiot it's me, Marcus" his reply was muffled but Jensen could hear it. Quickly pulling Marcus to his feet and saying he was sorry he asked why Marcus was following him.

"I should think it is quite obvious" he replied, "I'm here to help you, I want to find Peter's killer as much as you do but we'll get much more done if you learn how to investigate properly"

Intrigued, Jensen listened to what Marcus had to say.

"Now, how are you going about looking for this killer?"

Jensen explained his strategy of wandering around hoping to catch snippets of information, to which Marcus laughed at.

"If you do that you'll be lucky to get any sort of information and you'd be wasting energy, now follow me to that bench over there"

He led Jensen to a nearby bench and made him sit down, for five minutes Jensen waited for Marcus to say something. Nothing. For ten he waited. Nothing. Finally he had enough.

"So how is this going to help me find that killer, just sitting around hoping he walks by?"

"Well obviously you weren't listening because in ten minutes I found out that, that man over there," he pointed to a balding fat man in a maroon robe, "has been in the beds of four other women besides his own, among other things. What did you learn Jensen?"

"All I heard were many different voices, you can't hear anything in this rabble." Annoyance showed through in his face and voice, this was pointless, any time he didn't use to track the killer was time wasted.

"Just as thought, you hear but you don't listen" said Marcus, "ok do as I say, take a deep breath and let it out slowly, good, now pick out a person from the crowd, when you have that, I want you to block out all noise and focus on that one person."

_This is ridiculous_, thought Jensen, how could simply staring at someone help you listen better. Sighing he did as Marcus said. Taking another deep breath he slowly let it out and things slowed down a little. He picked out two men in the crowd who looked like well-to-do merchants in there quite impressive garb who were talking intently. Focusing his eyesight on just them two all that had happened was that they had become clearer to see, but just as he was about to give trying to pick out words, all other sounds were being muffled and he started to pick out words from the conversation.

"What…mean…were robbed?"

"I opened my shop this morning and all that was left was a few pieces of vegetables"

Letting his senses dull, Jensen pulled out of the almost trance he was in. Marcus' technique actually worked.

"So what did you hear" asked Marcus.

"That one in the green robe with gold scrollwork, had his shop broken into last night" replied Jensen

"I'm impressed you managed to listen that far"

"Do I have to stay here much longer; I must be looking for that bastard assassin."

"Watch your language, and as I said I'm here to help you. Let's get on the rooftops, that'll give us a better view"

Leading Jensen to a nearby building, which had bits of it missing, leaving cracks in the wall which they used as hand and foot holds, they climbed up it and surveyed their surroundings.

"Jensen where was the last place you looked?" inquired Marcus.

"In the trade district, I figured if someone wanted to hide that would be the best place to look" replied Jensen as a man on the ground tripped over a piece of stone.

"Very well, I want you to go back to the trade district and use your new skill at listening to see if you can find out anything, I will go along the rooftops to look for signs of the assassin."

Jensen nodded in reply and quickly set off towards the trade district.

The trade district was a wondrous site every time he came there. Always someone was selling something new at the top of their voices, so many different people came here it was easy for a cutpurse to make money; he remembered being one of them once before Marcus saved him and Peter.

Walking along he saw many trinkets on the stalls, a merchant, dressed in golden brown robes with a white turban, was selling a strange brown hairy thing, he said it was a fruit, called it a cocoanut or something close to that. Jensen shook his head slowly, how could something like that contain liquid, it had three holes in it after all.

He soon found a bench to sit on and listen without being suspected of anything. Sitting he opened his senses and assumed comfortable position on the bench, it would be a long wait.

After what seemed an age, Jensen stood up, frustrated at not finding out any useful information. The sun was slowly creeping down under the horizon, deciding to call it a day he walked back towards home.


End file.
